The present disclosure relates generally to fastening systems and, more particularly, to fastening systems and methods using suction force to position a collar on a bolt.
At least some known fastening systems include a multi-step process for affixing a collar to a bolt. More specifically, at least some known fastening systems include a collar feeding system that, in the first step, aligns the collar with the bolt and positions the collar onto the bolt within a narrow tolerance. Because of the narrow alignment tolerances, at least some collar feeding systems include a technician manually aligning and positioning each collar onto the bolt. The second step of at least some known fastening systems includes aligning a fastening tool, such as a swaging tool, with the pre-positioned collar and swaging the collar to the bolt. Similar narrow tolerances exist when aligning the swaging tool with the collar as when aligning the collar with the bolt.
Accordingly, at least some known fastening systems are time consuming processes that may require manually positioning components of the system to meet certain narrow tolerances. Also, if either the collar or the swaging tool is out of alignment, the collar will not fasten correctly to the bolt, requiring additional time and labor to remove the incorrectly fastened components and perform the process again.